I actually went in and worked four hours today...so I wouldn't have to take so much leave when my mom's in town and we're partying it up in Vegas...

Unfortunately the rude comment I got from a fellow coworker could not be tempered to to the unreasonable rules at work that prohibits me from having a bit of Baily's in my coffee on the job or smacking the above rude coworker silly..

There's always something to criticize. In my family, I get conflicting advice: "You've been married a while now...when are you gonna have kids?" "You're still young, finish your dissertation first."

My answer to both is the same. Kids come when they come, according to God's plan, not to mine. There are other choice words for non-family people who ask that question, but I try to be charitable, at least to their faces.

If some folks didn't have family, they'd have nobody at all because they suck.

( I heard a nasty second hand rumored threat just before the turkey and had it been directed towards me or my immediate family members I would have called the sheriff but because the source couldn't be trusted I let it go.)

Yay! I was abandoned by my parents when I was fifteen, have no brothers or sisters, no aunts uncles, cousins nieces or nephews, no husband or children... am in fact completely alone in the world and am likely to remain so ...

So I've got no reason to complain about annoying family members taking an interest in my life, whether I've got a boyfriend, am getting older,

Miss Hillary, keep in mind that some families are so toxic that it takes decades if not a life time to recover from the $h@t they've said or done to one another and some people are never able to recover.

The people who I'm most fond of are not even family members at all but people I've met at church yet I love them like family.

I'm sorry you have pain from being alone but everyone has some sort of pain and sadly no one gets left out of the pain loop.

You have reminded me that there are many millions of lonely people who need our prayers. I had forgotten.

My mom and Grandma had pretty good plans to keep the sniping under control...

If you turn into an asshole after one drink then you are not served. Period. EVERYONE knows who those folks are. We luv HAPPY drunks :) If you don't like it too bad..be an asshole someplace else..

If you have Jewish friends/relative/coworkers over for dinner invite them to say grace too..not everyone luvs Jesus. Atheists just need to sit down and shut up. (Yeah we have to deal with THAT...)

Only nice things said after grace...the dining table is not a place to pick a fight or be catty or vindictive..Again..if you've had one too many glasses of wine you will have your plate on the back porch. the table is also not the place to go into detail about your food allergies or that the mashed potatoes are lumpy....and try a bit of everything. People worked hard to prepare the meal with lots of love..

People will say insensitive things...be prepared with a kind comeback...this is not a competition on who can come up with the rudest question or comeback. People are just trying to make small talk, especially if they don't know you very well. Again--too much booze--they're on the back porch..

EVERYONE helps with the dishes..menfolks included. TV is not turned on until everything is cleaned up.